And, yes, the final version will be slightly -- ever so slightly -- less rough than this version. I smoothed out a bunch of things during the copyedits. Can't say it won't still have rough spots, though. I did write about half of this book 15 years ago, though it's been rewritten a great deal.

Also, as I comment below his comments, while the book is clearly Zelaznian in mood (Miranda was originally a Diceless Amber character before I decided to write the book) her siblings, the Prospero Family, were stolen from John and existed in the Corruption Campaign beside the princes, so they are not styled after particular Zelazny characters. They are just a squabbling immortal family. The resemblance ends there, though, as the Prospero's are definitely sillier (and more fond of each other. )

It's funny to read reviews of Book One. The story is about a young woman who finds out that most of the things she knew were wrong and has to discover the truth and put her life back together...but most of the scenes where she finds out that things she thought were not correct are in Book Two. So little of the story comes onstage in the first book. Still, all the important people and characters (except for Erasmus) get introduced, and even Erasmus is discussed. So, I guess it's not a bad first book for its purposes.